June 24, 2011

Wal-Mart plaintiffs plan for next round in discrimination suit

The Supreme Court dealt a blow to the country’s biggest discrimination class action with its decision in the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes case Monday, but late this afternoon plaintiffs’ attorneys came out with the first salvo in the next round of battle.

The Impact Fund's Brad Seligman, a lead lawyer for the female workers at Wal-Mart, said he and attorneys from Cohen Milstein filed a motion to extend tolling of the statute of limitations for the case in the Northern District.

Seligman said the parties filed an administrative motion asking the court to set a case management conference about the implications of tolling, and another motion for the actual tolling.

Attorneys are asking for 120 more days to weigh their options following the Supreme Court’s decision. Seligman said the parties are considering a combination of four options in their legal strategy: intervening as individuals in the current case, pursuing a more narrowly defined class action, filing separate cases, and filing new charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“We are moving to protect the rights of all the member of the former class and to preserve their options,” Seligman said. “We want to make sure the class members have a sufficient amount of time to make considered decisions about which option makes the most sense.”

The next available hearing date for a motion is July 27, Seligman said.